Optical Instrument and Measurements Using Multiple Tunable Optical Polarization Rotators

ABSTRACT

Devices and techniques for generating and analyzing states of polarization in light using multiple adjustable polarization rotators in various applications.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/149,946 entitled “Optical Instrumentand Measurements Using Multiple Tunable Optical Polarization Rotators”and filed on Jun. 10, 2005 (published as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0023987-A1 and now U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,436), which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/578,700 entitled“Generation and Analysis of State of Polarization Using Tunable OpticalPolarization Rotators” and filed Jun. 10, 2004 (attorney docket No.12361-033P01).

The U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/149,946 is a continuation inpart application of and claims the benefits of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/914,592 entitled “GENERATION AND ANALYSIS OF STATE OFPOLARIZATION USING TUNABLE OPTICAL POLARIZATION ROTATORS” and filed Aug.9, 2004 (Attorney Docket No. 12361-033001, published as U.S. PublicationNo. US 2005-0200941 Al and now U.S. Pat. No. 7,027,198) which claims thebenefits of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/493,880 entitled“SOP Generator and Analyzer Based on Tunable Optical PolarizationRotators” and filed Aug. 8, 2003 (attorney docket No. 12361-031P01) andthe above-referenced U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/578,700.The above-referenced U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/914,592 is alsoa continuation-in-part application of and claims the benefit of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/800,406 entitled “Monitoring Mechanismsfor Optical Systems” and field Mar. 12, 2004 (attorney docket No.12361-028001 and published as U.S. Publication No. US 2005-0201751 A1)which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/454,450 entitled “Monitoring Mechanisms for Optical Systems” andfiled Mar. 12, 2003 (attorney docket no. 12361-028P01).

In addition, this application is also a continuation-in-part applicationof and claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/800,406 entitled “Monitoring Mechanisms for Optical Systems” andfield Mar. 12, 2004 (attorney docket No. 12361-028001) which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/454,450 entitled“Monitoring Mechanisms for Optical Systems” and filed Mar. 12, 2003(attorney docket no. 12361-028P01).

The entire disclosures of the above referenced applications and theirpublications are incorporated herein by reference as part of thespecification of this application.

BACKGROUND

This application relates to optical polarization devices and theirapplications including polarization-based optical monitoring devices andsystems.

Optical properties or parameters of light in an optical device or systemmay be measured for various purposes. As an example, such an opticalmeasurement may be used to determine the performance or an operatingcondition of the device or system. An optical property or parameter oflight under measurement may include the optical polarization, the signalto noise ratio, the differential group delay between two orthogonalpolarization states, and others.

The optical polarization is an important parameter of an optical signalin various optical systems. For example, in fiber optic communicationsystems, polarization-dependent effects in fibers and other devices,such as polarization-dependent loss (PDL) and polarization-modedispersion (PMD), can have significant impacts on performance and properoperations of optical devices or systems. Hence, it may be desirable tomeasure and monitor the state of polarization (SOP) and the degree ofpolarization (DOP) of an optical signal in these and other systems.

Similarly, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the differential groupdelay (DGD) of an optical signal are also important parameters forvarious optical devices and systems and hence monitoring of theseparameters may be desirable under certain circumstances.

SUMMARY

This application includes various implementations and examples ofdevices and techniques for monitoring the SNR, DOP, and DGD of one ormore optical signals and for generation of various states ofpolarization. In one implementation, an optical scrambler and apolarizer may be used in the optical path for the measurements. Inanother implementation, a rotatable quarter waveplate and a rotatablehalf waveplate are used in the optical path for the measurements. In yetanother implementation, a state-of-polarization generator and a linearpolarizer may be used for the measurements. The optical monitoringdevices described here may be used to measure WDM channels.

Example of various implementations include the following.

In one example, a device includes a fiber loop, an optical coupler insaid fiber loop to couple input light into said fiber loop as twocounter-propagating waves in said loop and to couple light in said loopout as an output beam, a polarization device in said fiber loop tochange polarization of light in said loop to achieve a maximum powerlevel and a minimum power level in said output beam, an optical detectorto receive said output beam to produce a detector signal; and a circuitto process said detector signal to produce an output indicative of asignal-to-noise ratio or a degree of polarization in said input lightfrom said maximum and minimum power levels.

In another example, a device includes a polarization scrambler toscramble polarization of received light to produce output light in acontrolled manner in response to a control signal, a polarizer toreceive said output light from said polarization scrambler to produce atransmitted beam, an optical detector to receive said transmitted beamto produce a detector signal, and a control unit to produce said controlsignal to said polarization scrambler and to process said detectorsignal to produce an output indicative of a signal-to-noise ratio or adegree of polarization in said input light.

In another example, a device is described to include a polarizationdevice to adjust polarization of received light to produce output lightto find a maximum power level and a minimum power level of each WDMchannel of different WDM channels in said received light, a WDMdemultiplexer to receive said output light and to separate different WDMchannels in said output light, a plurality of polarizers in opticalpaths of said different WDM channels, respectively; a plurality ofoptical detectors to respectively receive said different WDM channelsafter transmission through said polarizers; and a circuit to processoutput signals from said optical detectors to produce an output for eachWDM channel indicative of a signal-to-noise ratio or a degree ofpolarization in said each WDM channel from said maximum power level andsaid minimum power level. The polarization device may be a polarizationscrambler which randomly changes said polarization in searching for saidmaximum power level and said minimum power level. The polarizationdevice may be a polarization controller.

In another example, a device is described to include a polarizationdevice to scramble adjust polarization of received light to produceoutput light to find a maximum power level and a minimum power level ofeach WDM channel of different WDM channels in said received light, a WDMdemultiplexer to receive said output light to separate different WDMchannels in said output light, a polarizer in an optical path of saidoutput light between said polarization device and said WDM demultiplexerto transmit said output light to said WDM demultiplexer, a plurality ofoptical detectors to respectively receive said different WDM channelsafter transmission through said polarizers, and a circuit to processoutput signals from said optical detectors to produce an output for eachWDM channel indicative of a signal-to-noise ratio or a degree ofpolarization in said each WDM channel from said maximum power level andsaid minimum power level. The polarization device may be a polarizationscrambler which randomly changes said polarization in searching for saidmaximum power level and said minimum power level, and may be apolarization controller.

In another example, a device includes a polarization device to changepolarization of received light to produce output light to find a maximumpower level and a minimum power level of each WDM channel of differentWDM channels in said received light; an optical polarizer to receivesaid output light to produce a beam; an optical diffraction grating todiffract said beam into spatially separated different WDM channels; alens to transmit said different WDM channels; a plurality of opticaldetectors to respectively receive said different WDM channels from saidlens; and a circuit to process output signals from said opticaldetectors to produce an output for each WDM channel indicative of asignal-to-noise ratio or a degree of polarization in said each WDMchannel. The polarization device may be a polarization scrambler whichrandomly changes said polarization in searching for said maximum powerlevel and said minimum power level and may be a polarization controller.

In another example, a device includes a polarization device to changepolarization of received light to produce output light to find a maximumpower level and a minimum power level of each WDM channel of differentWDM channels in said received light; a WDM demultiplexer to receive saidoutput light to separate different WDM channels in said output light; aplurality of polarization beam splitters in optical paths of saiddifferent WDM channels, respectively, wherein each polarization beamsplitter splits a corresponding WDM channel into two monitor beams thatare orthogonally polarized; a plurality of filters disposed in one ofsaid two monitor beams for said different WDM channels, respectively,each operable to produce a difference in power between noise powerlevels in said two monitor beams for each WDM channel without affectingsignal power levels in said each WDM channel in said two monitor beams;a plurality of pairs of optical detectors provided for different WDMchannels, wherein two optical detectors in each pair are positioned torespectively receive said two monitor beams for a corresponding WDMchannel to produce two detector outputs for said WDM channel; and acontrol unit to produce said control signal and to process detectorsignals to produce an output for each WDM channel indicative of asignal-to-noise ratio or a degree of polarization in said each WDMchannel. The polarization device may be a polarization scrambler whichrandomly changes said polarization in searching for said maximum powerlevel and said minimum power level and may be a polarization controller.

In another example, a device includes a polarization device to changepolarization of received light to produce output light to find a maximumpower level and a minimum power level of each WDM channel of differentWDM channels in said received light; a polarization beam splitter tosplit said output light into first and second beams of orthogonalpolarizations; a first WDM demultiplexer to receive said first beam toseparate different WDM channels in said first beam; a second WDMdemultiplexer to receive said second beam to separate different WDMchannels in said second beam, wherein said first WDM demultiplexer isdifferent from said second WDM demultiplexer in way that a noise powerlevel in an output WDM channel from said first WDM demultiplexer isdifferent from a noise power level in the same WDM channel from saidsecond WDM demultiplexer; a first set of optical detectors located toreceive different WDM channels from said first WDM demultiplexer; asecond set of optical detectors located to receive different WDMchannels from said second WDM demultiplexer; and a control unit toproduce said control signal and to process detector signals from saidfirst set and said second set of optical detectors to produce an outputfor each WDM channel indicative of a signal-to-noise ratio or a degreeof polarization in said each WDM channel. The polarization device may bea polarization scrambler which randomly changes said polarization insearching for said maximum power level and said minimum power level andmay be a polarization controller.

In another example, a device includes a polarization element operable toadjust optical polarization of input light; a polarizer to receive lightfrom said polarization element to produce a transmitted beam; an opticaldetector to receive said transmitted beam from said polarizer; and asignal processing circuit to process output of said optical detector toextract information on a state of polarization of said input light. Thepolarization element may be implemented by a polarization controller, arotatable quarter-wave plate, or a state-of-polarization generator.

A method is also described to include obtaining a monitor beam from afiber line carrying WDM channels; spatially separating WDM channels fromsaid monitor beam; separating each WDM channel into a first beam and asecond beam with orthogonal polarizations in a way that noise powerlevel in said first beam is different from a noise power level in saidsecond beam; adjusting polarization of each WDM channel prior toseparation into said first and said second beams to find a maximum powerlevel and a minimum power level in each of said first and said secondbeams; and determining both a signal-to-noise ratio and a degree ofpolarization of each WDM channel in said monitor beam.

Additional examples and implementations are also described.

One example of devices described here includes first and secondpolarization rotators sequentially positioned in an optical path, aquarter waveplate in the optical path to receive output light from thefirst and second polarization rotators, and third and fourthpolarization rotators sequentially positioned in the optical path toreceive output light from the quarter waveplate. Each polarizationrotator is adjustable in response to a control signal and may be operateat two binary rotation angles.

In another example, a device includes at least four polarizationrotators positioned in an optical path and each polarization rotator isadjustable in response to a control signal to rotate the polarization byeither +22.5° or −22.5°. The device also includes a quarter wave platein the optical path.

Methods for generates states of polarization and analyzing polarizationare also described here. In one example, a device is described toinclude at least four polarization rotators positioned to form anoptical path, each polarization rotator being adjustable to change arotation of polarization of light transmitting therethrough along theoptical path, and an optical polarization device placed in the opticalpath at one side of the polarization rotators to transmit light of aselected linear polarization. As another example, at least fouradjustable polarization rotators in an optical path are used to transmitlight and to control a state of polarization of the transmitted light.Each polarization rotator is controlled to rotate polarization by twodifferent predetermined angles; and the at least four polarizationrotators are controlled to operate in different rotator settings and togenerate at least four different states of polarization.

Yet another described example uses at least four polarization rotatorsand a quarter wave plate in an optical path to transmit light. Eachpolarization rotator is controlled to rotate polarization by twodifferent predetermined angles. The at least four polarization rotatorsare controlled to operate in different rotator settings and to generateat least four different states of polarization.

These and other implementations and applications are described ingreater detail in the attached drawings, the detailed description, andthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two exemplary optical monitoring devices with apolarization scrambler or controller.

FIG. 3 shows an implementation of the monitoring device in FIG. 2 in atransmission system.

FIG. 4 shows a monitoring setup for a wavelength-division-multiplexed(WDM) transmission line where the input includes signals at differentWDM wavelengths.

FIG. 5 shows one implementation of an all-fiber dynamic PMD controller500 based on the above monitoring techniques.

FIG. 6 shows one implementation of a microprocessor-based monitoringdevice.

FIG. 7 shows a monitoring device that uses a WDM demultiplexer in theoutput of the polarization scrambler or controller to separate differentWDM channels.

FIG. 8 shows another implementation where a diffraction grating is usedto separate different WDM channels.

FIG. 9 shows one implementation of a PMD-insensitive monitoring devicefor WDM applications where only a single polarization scrambler is usedfor all wavelength channels.

FIG. 10 shows another implementation of a WDM monitoring device where asingle polarization beam splitter is combined with two WDMdemultiplexers.

FIG. 11 shows a system having a real-time DGD monitoring device and adynamic PMD compensator.

FIG. 12 illustrates the processing operation by a DGD processing circuitin FIG. 11 with reference to the Poincarésphere for the polarization.

FIGS. 13, 14, and 15 show three examples of optical monitoring devicesthat use a rotatable quarter waveplate and a rotatable polarizer as apolarization scrambler.

FIG. 16 shows a fiber system that uses a Fabry-Perot filter andsequential or parallel multi-channel polarimeters to monitor the SOP ofeach channel.

FIG. 17 illustrates operations of the Fabry-Perot filter in FIG. 16.

FIGS. 18A and 18B show two examples of WDM optical monitoring devicesthat use a rotatable quarter waveplate and a rotatable half waveplate aspart of the device.

FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, and 19E illustrate examples of opticalmonitoring devices that use a SOP generator and a fixed opticalpolarizer.

FIGS. 20 and 21 show exemplary implementations of a SOP generator.

FIG. 22 shows a device that uses a SOP generator as a SOP analyzer tomeasure the degree of polarization of light.

FIG. 23 shows an example of a 4-rotator polarimeter with a control andprocessing unit.

FIGS. 24 and 25 show examples of 4-rotator and 6-rotator polarimetersusing optical fibers.

FIG. 26 shows another example of a 6-rotator polarimeter.

FIG. 27 shows an example of a 8-rotator polarimeter.

FIG. 28 shows a testing system for testing multi-rotator devicesdescribed above.

FIGS. 29, 30, 31, 32A, and 32B show measurements of actual multi-rotatordevices based on the 4-rotator and 6-rotator designs.

FIG. 33 shows an example of a system for measuring polarization propertyof a sample or device using a multi-rotator SOG generator and a separatemulti-rotator polarimeter.

FIGS. 34A, 34B, 35, and 36 show examples of systems for measuringpolarization property of a sample or device based on a folded designthat uses a single set of multiple rotators for both generating SOPs andanalyzing the output from the sample or device due to opticalreflection.

FIGS. 37A and 37B show two examples of multichannel SOP analyzers.

FIG. 38 illustrates operation of the multichannel SOP analyzers in FIGS.37A and 37B.

FIG. 39 shows an example of a multi-channel WDM analyzer based onsequential filtering and processing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates one exemplary implementation of a monitoring device100 for monitoring both SNR and DOP in the received light. Themonitoring device 100 may use a fiber to receive an optical signal 101under monitoring, and an optical loop 120 such as a fiber loop toperform the monitoring. An optical coupler 110, such as a 50% fibercoupler, may be coupled to the two ends of the fiber loop 120 to splitthe input signal 101 into two counter-propagating beams in the loop 120and to combine the two counter-propagating beams to produce an outputbeam 140. Hence, the coupler 110 and the loop 120 provide a mirroringmechanism. A polarization scrambler or controller 130 is placed in thefiber loop 120 to either randomly scramble the polarization of light inthe loop 120 or to systematically control the polarization to varythrough all possible states of polarization so that a maximum powerlevel and a minimum power level in the output beam 140 can be obtainedand measured. The polarization scrambler or controller 130 may beoptionally controlled in response to a control signal 163 to adjust thestate of polarization of light passing therethrough.

In one implementation of the device 130 as illustrated in FIG. 1, thepolarization scrambler or controller 130 may include two or more fibersqueezers 131 and 132 under control of the controllers 133 and 134,respectively. The squeezing directions of the fiber squeezers 131 and132 are oriented to be 45 degrees with respect to each other to performthe scrambling operations.

An optical detector 150 may be coupled to receive the output light 140from the loop 120. An optional optical isolator 103 may be placed in thepath of the input beam 101 to prevent any optical feedback to the inputpath. A processing circuit 160 is coupled to receive the detector outputfrom the detector 150 to produce an output signal 162 which includesinformation about the SNR or DOP.

In operation, the detector 150 detects the maximum and the minimumoptical power levels in the output signal 140. The processing circuit160 can be designed to compute the extinction ratio based on measuredmaximum and the minimum optical power levels. In various applications,the signal 101 is generally polarized and the noise is not polarized.Hence, the extinction ratio can directly relate to the SNR and DOP. Asthe extinction ratio increases, the DOP and the SNR increaseaccordingly, and vice versa. The processing circuit 160 may alsoincludes a control unit that controls the operation of the polarizationscrambler 130.

FIG. 2 shows a monitoring device 200 based on another implementation.The polarization scrambler 130 is used to scramble the input light 101and a polarizer 210 is used to transmit the output light of thescrambler 130. The polarizer 210 is used here to replace the mirroringloop 120 in the monitoring device 100 in FIG. 1. The optical detector150 is then used to receive the transmitted light from the polarizer210. The processing circuit 160 receives and processes the detectoroutput to produce the output 162.

FIG. 3 shows an implementation of the monitoring device 200 in atransmission system 300. An optical coupler 310 is placed in the path ofthe input beam 301 to tap a fraction of the input 301 as a monitoringbeam 320 and the remaining 302 of the input 301 continues along theinput path as an output of the system 300. The monitoring device 200 iscoupled to receive the monitoring beam 320 to perform the measurement.Notably, a housing 303 may be used to enclose the coupler 310, the pathfor the monitoring beam 320, and the monitoring device 200. All opticalpaths may be fibers, dielectric waveguides, or a combination of fiberpaths and waveguide paths. The housing may be hermetically sealed toprovide an integrated package for deployment in a fiber transmissionline or system. A substrate may be used to fabricated waveguides andother optical components in a single-chip package enclosed within thehousing 303. It is understood that, the monitoring device 100 in FIG. 1may also be used to replace the device 200 in FIG. 3 and other systemsshown in this application.

FIG. 4 shows a monitoring setup for a wavelength-division-multiplexed(WDM) transmission line where the input 301 includes signals atdifferent WDM wavelengths. The coupler 310 may split all WDM signals atthe input to produce the monitoring beam 320. A WDM coupler may be usedas the coupler 310. A tunable optical filter 410 is coupled between thecoupler 310 and the monitoring device 200 or 100 to sequentially filterthe WDM signals so that only one signal at a single WDM wavelength istransmitted to the device 200 or 100. As the filter 410 is tunedsequentially through all signal wavelengths, one at a time, each andevery WDM signal is measured by the device 200 or 100. A control device420 may be implemented and coupled to the filter 410 and the monitoringdevice 200 or 100 to control such sequential filtering and monitoringoperations. The tunable filter 410 may be implemented in a number ofconfigurations, such as a tunable Fabry-Perot filter, a tunable fibergrating filter (e.g., coupled with a fiber stretcher), multiple filterswith different transmission wavelengths on a rotation wheel which may becontrolled by a step motor, and others.

FIG. 5 shows one implementation of an all-fiber dynamic PMD controller500 based on the above monitoring techniques. An adjustable polarizationcontroller 510 is coupled in the input fiber to control the polarizationof the input beam 501. A polarization-maintaining fiber segment 520 iscoupled to the output of the polarization controller 510 to produce thedesired differential group delay in the output light from the controller510. Fiber fusion splicing may be used to connect the PM fiber segment510. A fiber coupler 310 is used to split the output of the controller510 into an output beam 502 in the input fiber and a monitoring beam 320to the monitoring device 200 in FIG. 2 (or the device 100 in FIG. 1) formonitoring the degree of polarization. The circuit 160 is coupled tosupply the output 162 to control the polarization controller 510 so thatthe polarization controller 510 can be dynamically adjusted in responseto the measurement by the circuit 160. The polarization controller 510may be implemented in various configurations. The PMD controller 500 mayinclude multiple, e.g., three or more, fiber squeezers. U.S. Pat. No.6,493,474 granted to Yao on Dec. 10, 2002 discloses some examples basedon four sequential fiber squeezers and is incorporated herein in itsentirety as part of the specification of this application.

The system in FIG. 5 may be used to achieve a number of advantages, suchas low optical loss at less than 0.5 dB and low cost due to the uniquedesigns based on simple optical layout and simple components. Ahermetically-sealed housing 530 may be implemented as illustrated.

FIG. 6 shows one implementation of a microprocessor-based monitoringdevice 600. A polarization controller 630 is used to adjust the SOP ofthe input light 612 under monitoring and a polarizer 210 is used totransmit the output light of the controller 630 to an optical detector150. The output signal 152 from the detector 150 may be electricallyamplified by an amplifier 660 and the amplified signal is sent to amicroprocessor-based processing circuit 650. The processing circuit 650converts each received analog signal into digital bits and performs thesignal processing operations by using a microprocessor in the digitaldomain. An output 651 is then produced to indicate the monitoring resulton either the DOP or the SNR of the light 612. As illustrated, a laser610 or other light source may be used to produce the input light 612.

Optionally, a beam splitter 620, such as a fiber coupler, may be used tosplit a fraction of the input beam 612 as a reference beam 622 to asecond optical detector 640. This beam splitter 620 should beinsensitive to the light polarization. The output 642 of the seconddetector 640 is then fed into the circuit 650 for processing. Thisreference beam 622 provides a measurement of the power variation in theinput beam 612 so that a part of the variation in the received signal152 caused by the power variation alone may be deducted from thevariation caused by the polarization change caused by the scrambler 630.

In operation, the circuit 650 may produce a control signal 652 to adjustthe controller 630 in search for the maximum power (V_(max)) and theminimum power (V_(min)) at the detector 150. The control signal 652 maybe digitally generated by the microprocessor and then converts into ananalog signal. Based on measurements on the Vman and Vmin, the processorin the circuit 650 computes the DOP or SNR of the light. The DOP may becomputed as follows:${DOP} = {\frac{V_{\max} - V_{\min}}{V_{\max} + V_{\min}}.}$

The polarization controller 630 may use a two-squeezer design as theelement 130 in FIG. 1 or a three-squeezer design as illustrated in FIG.6, or five- or six-squeezers to provide increased control in adjustingthe SOP of input light. FIG. 6 shows a termination design where theinput beam is entirely used for the monitoring operation. Alternatively,the monitoring device 600 may be implemented as an in-line packagesimilar to the design in FIG. 3 where an additional splitter 310 is usedto split the main input beam 301 to produce the input to the monitoringdevice 600 and the remaining of the main input beam continues topropagate in the transmission system.

In the above and other monitoring devices in this application, a tunableoptical filter may be inserted in the input path to allow for sequentialmonitoring of different WDM channels in the input. FIG. 4 shows oneexample. This multi-channel technique based on a tunable filter can beimplemented in various monitoring devices of this application. However,this technique is limited to sequential monitoring of one channel at atime.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate two multi-channel monitoring techniques forsimultaneous monitoring of different WDM channels. Such techniquesallows for taking snap shots of different channels at the same time.

FIG. 7 shows a monitoring device 700 that uses a WDM demultiplexer 710in the output of the polarization scrambler or controller 130 toseparate different WDM channels. In the optical path of each separateWDM channel, a polarizer 210 and an optical detector 150 are used toreceive and detect the power levels of each channel. Hence, power levelsof different channels can be measured at the same time. The outputsignals from the detectors 150 are then fed into the circuit 160 fordata processing to monitor the WDM channels. Multiple polarizers 210 areplaced in the optical paths between the dmux 710 and the detectors 150.Alternatively, a single polarizer may be placed between the polarizationscrambler 130 and the WDM demultiplexer 710 to replace with multiplepolarizers 210 in front of the detectors 150.

FIG. 8 shows another implementation 800 where a diffraction grating 820is used to separate different WDM channels. A collimator 810 is used toreceive the output of the polarization scrambler 130 to produce acollimated output. A polarizer 210 is placed between the polarizationscrambler 130 and the collimator 810. The grating 820 diffracts theinput light at different WDM wavelengths at different diffractionangles. This diffraction spatially separates different WDM channels. Asecond collimator 830, such as a lens, is used to collect the diffractedbeams of different channels and focus the diffracted beams ontodifferent detector elements of an array of optical detectors 840. Aprocessing circuit 850 may be optionally used to condition the detectoroutput signals prior to the circuit 160.

The above monitoring devices based on a polarization scrambler may besensitive to the PMD in the input signal that includes two or more WDMchannels. This sensitivity on the PMD may cause an error in themeasurement. In general, the greater the PMD in the input, the largerthe error of the monitoring device. Hence, it may be desirable tomitigate this PMD effect in monitoring the DOP or SNR.

FIG. 9 shows one implementation of a PMD-insensitive monitoring device900 for WDM applications where only a single polarization scrambler isused for all wavelength channels. The device 900 includes a universalpolarization scrambler 910 to receive input WDM channels in an inputfiber 901. One or more optical amplifiers 902 may be used in the inputoptical path to amplify the input WDM channels. A WDM demultiplexer 920is used to receive the output from the scrambler 910 and to splitdifferent WDM channels by their wavelengths as separate optical outputsignals 922. In each optical output, a polarizing beam splitter (PBS)930 or a suitable polarization device is used to split the receivedlight based on their two orthogonal polarizations to produce two beamswith orthogonal polarizations. A bandpass filter 940 is used to filterone of the two outputs of the PBS 930 so that the power levels of thenoise power levels in two output beams are different while the powerlevels of the signals in the output beams are essentially unaffected bythe filtering. As illustrated, the filter 940 may be positioned tofilter light from the port that transmits light along the direction ofthe input beam.

The above optical filtering causes an imbalance between the noise powerlevels in the two output beams with orthogonal polarizations. Thisimbalance is used for simultaneous and independent monitoring of bothSNR and DOP. Two orthogonally oriented polarizers 941 and 942 may beoptionally placed at the two output ports of the PBS 941 to ensure theoutput beams are orthogonally polarized. Two optical detectors 951 and952 are positioned to receive the two outputs of the PBS 930,respectively. The output signals of the detectors 951 and 952 are fedinto a processing circuit 970 for measurements and data processing. Twoelectrical signal amplifiers 961 and 962 may be optionally used toamplify the detector outputs, respectively, prior to the processing bythe circuit 970.

In one implementation, the bandpass filter 940 may have a bandwidthbroader than the actual bandwidth of each signal channel to allow eachsignal channel to pass without filtering but narrower than the bandwidthof the WDM device for each channel to filter out some noise componentsto create the power imbalance in the noise between the two output beams.For example, for WDM channels with 100 GHz in the channel spacing and 10GHz in the channel bandwidth, the WDM demultiplexer 920 may be designedto have a channel bandwidth of 50 GHz. The bandpass filter 940 may havea bandwidth of 25 GHz, between the 10-GHz channel bandwidth and 50-GHzdevice channel bandwidth, to allow a channel to pass through withoutbeing filtered. However, the noise components outside the 25 GHz windoware filtered out in the transmitted beam of the PBS 930.

The maximum and minimum detected power measurements of all SOPs detectedat the two detectors 951 and 952 are: $\begin{matrix}\left\{ \begin{matrix}{V_{1}^{\max} = {G_{1}\left\lbrack {{P_{s}\left( {1 - \delta} \right)} + {0.5\quad P_{N}}} \right\rbrack}} \\{V_{1}^{\min} = {G_{1}\left\lbrack {{P_{s}\delta} + {0.5\quad P_{N}}} \right\rbrack}} \\{V_{2}^{\max} = {G_{2}\left\lbrack {{P_{s}\left( {1 - \delta} \right)} + {0.5\quad\alpha\quad P_{N}}} \right\rbrack}} \\{V_{2}^{\min} = {G_{2}\left\lbrack {{P_{s}\delta} + {0.5\quad\alpha\quad P_{N}}} \right\rbrack}}\end{matrix} \right. & \begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}(1) \\(2)\end{matrix} \\(3)\end{matrix} \\(4)\end{matrix}\end{matrix}$where P_(n) is the signal power, P_(N) is the noise power, α is lessthan 1 and is the noise power filtering factor of the bandpass filter940, and δ the depolarization factor caused by, e.g., the PMD in theinput signal, the nonlinear birefringence, and imperfection of the PBS930. Notably, in absence of the filter 940 which produces the animbalance between the two output beams from PBS 930, the Eqs. (1) and(2) would be identical to Eqs. (3) and (4). The filter 940 isspecifically used to break the degeneracy and to provide separatemeasures of SNR and DOP.

Equations (1) and (2) are added to obtain the following: $\begin{matrix}{{{\overset{\prime}{V}}_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} = {G_{1}\left( {P_{S} + P_{N}} \right)}} & (5)\end{matrix}$Equations (1) and (2) are subtracted:V ₁ ^(max) −V ₁ ^(min) =G ₁ P _(S)(1−2δ)  (6)Similar manipulations of Equations (3) and (4) yield:V ₂ ^(max) +V ₂ ^(min) =G ₂(P _(s) +αP _(N))  (7)V ₂ ^(max) −V ₂ ^(min) =G ₂ P _(S)(1−2δ)  (8)Additionally, the following signal processing can be carried out:$\begin{matrix}{{{G_{2} \cdot {{Eq}.(5)}} - {G_{i} \cdot {{Eq}.(7)}}} = {{G_{2}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)} - {G_{1}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)}}} \\{= {{G_{1}G_{2}P_{S}} + {G_{1}G_{2}P_{N}} - {G_{1}G_{2}P_{S}} - {\alpha\quad G_{1}G_{2}{P_{N}.}}}}\end{matrix}$Hence, the following can be obtained: $\begin{matrix}{{{{G_{1}{G_{2}\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)}P_{N}} = {{G_{2}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)} - {G_{1}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)}}},{and}}{P_{N} = {\frac{1}{1 - \alpha}\left\lbrack {\frac{V_{1}^{\max} + V_{a}^{\min}}{G_{1}} - \frac{V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}}{G_{2}}} \right\rbrack}}} & (9)\end{matrix}$From Eq. (5), the following can be derived: $\begin{matrix}{{G_{1}P_{S}} = {\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right) - {G_{1}P_{N}}}} \\{= {\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right) - {\frac{1}{1 - \alpha}\left\lbrack {\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right) - {\frac{G_{1}}{G_{2}}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)}} \right\rbrack}}} \\{= {{\left( {1 - \frac{1}{1 - \alpha}} \right)\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)} + {\frac{G_{1}/G_{2}}{1 - \alpha}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)}}} \\{= {{\frac{1}{1 - \alpha}\left\lbrack {{\frac{G_{1}}{G_{2}}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)} - {\alpha\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}} \right\rbrack}.}}\end{matrix}$Therefore, the following expressions can be derived: $\begin{matrix}{{P_{S} = {\frac{1}{1 - \alpha}\left\lbrack {\frac{V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}}{G^{2}} - {\frac{\alpha}{G_{1}}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}} \right\rbrack}}\begin{matrix}{{S/N} = \frac{P_{s}}{P_{N}}} \\{= \frac{\frac{V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}}{G_{2}} - {\frac{\alpha}{G_{1}}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}}{\frac{V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}}{G_{1}} - \frac{V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}}{G_{2}}}} \\{= {\frac{{G_{1}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)} - {\alpha\quad{G_{2}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}}}{{G_{2}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)} - {G_{1}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)}}.}}\end{matrix}{{{{Let}\quad{\overset{\_}{V}}_{1}} = {\frac{1}{2}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}},{and}}{{{\overset{\_}{V}}_{2} = {\frac{1}{2}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)}},}} & (10)\end{matrix}$the SNR can be computed as follows: $\begin{matrix}{\frac{S}{N} = \frac{{G_{1}{\overset{\_}{V}}_{2}} - {\alpha\quad G_{2}{\overset{\_}{V}}_{1}}}{{G_{2}{\overset{\_}{V}}_{1}} - {G_{1}{\overset{\_}{V}}_{2}}}} & (12)\end{matrix}$If G₁=G₂, then SNR becomes$\frac{S}{N} = \frac{{\overset{\_}{V}}_{2} - {\alpha\quad{\overset{\_}{V}}_{1}}}{{\overset{\_}{V}}_{1} - {\overset{\_}{V}}_{2}}$Hence, the signal to noise ratio only depends on the average V₁ and V₂.This approach essentially excludes all the effects of PMD, the nonlinearbirefringence, and the PBS imperfection.

From Equations (6), (9), and (10), the depolarization factor δ can becalculated as: G₁P_(S)(1 − 2  δ) = V₁^(max) − V₁^(min)${{1 - {2\quad\delta}} = {\frac{1}{G_{1}P_{S}}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}},{and}$$\begin{matrix}{\delta = {\frac{1}{2}\left\lbrack {1 - {\frac{1}{G_{1}P_{S}}\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}} \right\rbrack}} \\{= {\frac{1}{2}\left\lbrack {1 - \frac{\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}{{\frac{G_{1}}{G_{2}}\left( {V_{2}^{\max} + V_{2}^{\min}} \right)} - {\alpha\left( {V_{1}^{\max} + V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}}} \right\rbrack}}\end{matrix}$For G₁=G₂, the depolarization factor can be simplified as:$\delta = {\frac{1}{2}\left\lbrack {1 - \frac{\left( {1 - \alpha} \right)\left( {V_{1}^{\max} - V_{1}^{\min}} \right)}{2\left( {{\overset{\_}{V}}_{2} - {\alpha\quad{\overset{\_}{V}}_{1}}} \right)}} \right\rbrack}$

The contribution to δ from the imperfection of the PBS 930 can beeliminated by placing polarizers 941 and 942 at the outputs of the PBS930 in FIG. 9. Accordingly, the depolarization caused by PMD can beprecisely measured. This mechanism may also be used to monitor the PMDeffect.

The device in FIG. 9 uses multiple PBSs for the separated WDM channels.Alternatively, FIG. 10 shows another implementation 1000 where a singlePBS 930 is combined with two WDM demultiplexers 1010 and 1020. In thisdesign, the two demultiplexers 1010 and 1020 may be purposely designedto be different to introduce the noise power imbalance with a factor ofα(λi) (i=1, 2, . . . , N). For example, the device channel bandwidths ofthe two demultiplexers 1010 and 1020 may be different, e.g., one is 50GHz and the other is 75 GHz for WDM signals with a channel bandwidth of10 GHz and a channel spacing of 100 GHz, where each WDM channeltransmits without being attenuated but the noise power levels of thesame channel in the outputs of the demultiplexers 1010 and 1020 aredifferent. Hence, the filter 940 in FIG. 9 may be eliminated. If the twodemultiplexers 1010 and 1020 are identical, then the filtering is neededto introduce the power imbalance.

Now turning to FIG. 11, a real-time DGD monitoring mechanism is shown inthe fiber system 1100 and is used in connection with a dynamic PMDcompensator. The fiber system includes three main modules: a transmitterterminal, the fiber transmission line 1103 which may include a fiberlink with optical amplifiers, and a receiving terminal. The transmitterterminal may include multiple optical transmitters 1101 at differentchannel wavelengths and a WDM multiplexer 1102 to multiplex thedifferent channels for transmission in the fiber link 1103. Thereceiving terminal includes a DGD monitor, a demultiplexers 1120,dynamic PMD compensators for different channels, and optical receivers1180 for different channels. An optical coupler 1110, such as a fibercoupler, may be placed in the input of the demultiplexer 1120 to split afraction of the input signal as a monitor beam 1112 to the DGD monitorand the main input signal is received by the demultiplexer 1120.

The DGD monitor in the system 1100 includes a tunable filter 1130, apolarimeter 1140, and a DGD processing circuit within a control unit1190. The filter 1130 is tuned to sequentially scan through differentWDM or DWDM channels to allow for different channels to reach thepolarimeter 1140, one at a time. The bandwidth of the filter 1130 issufficiently narrower than the bandwidth of each channel. Thepolarimeter 1140 is operable to measure the SOP at a high speed for thereal-time monitoring. The DGD processing circuit within the control unit1190 receives and processes the SOP signal generated by the polarimeter1140 to determine the DGD in each channel.

In operation, the tunable filter 1130 is tuned to a channel at itscenter wavelength λi and is scanned around λi for a duration longer thanthe time for the polarimeter 1140 to measure the SOP of that channel.During this scanning around λi, the polarimeter processes the inputoptical signal at λi to produce the information on the SOP of thischannel.

FIG. 12 illustrates the processing operation by the DGD processingcircuit with reference to the Poincare sphere for the polarization. Letthe angular variation in the SOP angle around the principal axis Ω beΔθi for the channel λi, and the frequency tuning range around the centerwavelength λi be Δfi, the DGD can be calculated as follows:${\Delta\quad\tau_{i}} = {\frac{\Delta\quad\theta_{i}}{2\quad\pi\quad\Delta\quad f_{i}}.}$This calculation is performed by the DGD processing circuit. FIG. 12shows that, both the DGD and direction of the principal axis Ω can bedetermined.

Next, the control unit 1190 uses the DGD information to control the PMDcompensator to produce a DGD that negates this measured DGD. Thiscompletes the monitoring and control operation on one channel. Thecontrol unit 1190 then commands the filter 1130 to tune to the nextchannel to repeat the monitoring and compensation operation. Thisprocess repeats for all channels sequentially.

The DGD monitoring mechanism in FIG. 11 is shared by all channels. ThePMD compensation, however, is implemented individually for each channel.Hence, multiple PMD compensators are used in the example in FIG. 11 fordifferent channels, respectively. Only one compensator for the channelλ1 is depicted for simplicity.

In the optical path for each channel after the demultiplexer 1120, thePMD compensator for that channel is placed before a respective channelreceiver 1180. The PMD compensator may include an optical polarizationcontroller (PC) 1150, a variable DGD (VDGD) element 1160 to produce avariable DGD, a DOP monitor 1170 for measuring the degree ofpolarization of the light, and a PMD control circuit within the controlunit 1190. The polarization controller 1150 may use variousimplementations, including the fiber-squeezer controllers disclosed inthe incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,474. The DOP monitor 1170 may beconfigured to tap a portion of the signal for the monitoring operationand send the remaining signal to the channel receiver 1180. Asillustrated, the PMD control circuit controls both the polarizationcontroller 1150 and the variable DGD element 1160 in response to themeasured DOP from the monitor 1170. Hence, the control is a feedbackcontrol and operates dynamically to produce real-time PMD compensation.In implementations, a microprocessor may be used in the control unit1190 to perform the computations for the DGD measurement and the PMDcompensation.

The polarimeter 1140 in FIG. 11 may be implemented in variousconfigurations. FIG. 13 shows one exemplary implementation 1300 by usinga rotatable quarter-wave plate 1310 and a rotatable polarizer 1320 tosequentially process input light. The plates 1310 and 1320 arecontrolled, e.g., by the circuit 1350, to rotate at different rotationalspeeds or frequencies. In this and other implementations, the rotatablewave plate 1310 may be replaced by a polarization controller such as thefiber-squeezer controller disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,474. Anoptical detector 1330 converts the processed light into a detectorsignal and a signal processing circuit 1350 further processes thedetector signal to measure the SOP of the light. A signal amplifier 1340may be optionally coupled between the detector 1330 and the circuit 1350to amplify the signal. Hence, in the configuration in FIG. 11, as thefilter 1130 scans through different channels, the polarimeter 1300measures the SOP one channel at a time. Alternatively, the configurationin FIG. 11 may be modified to place the tunable filter 1130 between thedetector 1330 and the polarizer 1320 of the polarimeter 1300.

A polarimeter may also be configured to measure the SOPs of multiplechannels in parallel at the same time. FIGS. 14 and 15 show twoexamples. In FIG. 14, the polarimeter 1400 uses a demultiplexer 1120 toseparate different channels output by the quarter-wave plate 1310 andthe polarizer 1320. For each channel, a designated optical detector 1330and a designated signal processing circuit 1350 are used to process thechannel signal to determine the SOP of that channel. Hence, all channelsare monitored in parallel with one another at the same time.

FIG. 15 shows a different design 1500 where a diffraction grating 820and a collimating lens 830 are used to spatially separate the differentchannels in a manner similar to the design in FIG. 8 for a differentapplication. A processing circuit 1520 is used to process the detectoroutputs to produce the SOP signals for different channels.

In absence of PMD in an input optical signal, the SNR of the signal canbe directly determined from the DOP measurement. Assume P_(S) is thepower of the signal which is polarized and P_(n) is the power of thenoise which is unpolarized. The DOP can be computed by the followingequation:${DOP} = {\frac{P_{s}}{P_{s} + P_{n}} = {\frac{P_{s}/P_{n}}{1 + {P_{s}/P_{n}}}.}}$Accordingly, the SNR can be computed from DOP:${SNR} = {\frac{P_{s}}{P_{n}} = {\frac{DOP}{1 - {DOP}}.}}$Here, the DOP can be computed from the maximum and minimum power levelsfrom the measurements. When DOP is 1, the SNR is infinite and when DOPis zero, the SNR is zero.

FIG. 16 shows a fiber system 1600 that uses any one of the abovesequential or parallel multi-channel polarimeters to monitor the SOP ofeach channel. A fiber coupler 1110 is used to split a fraction of theinput light with multiple channels to produce a monitor beam 1112. Atunable Fabry-Perot filter 1610 is used to filter the monitor beam 1112to transmit all WDM channels at the same time to a multi-channelpolarimeter 1620. This may be accomplished by designing the Fabry-Perotfilter 1610 to have a free spectral range (FSR) equal to the channelspacing of the WDM channels or a multiplicity of the channel spacing. Inoperation, the tunable Fabry-Perot filter 1610 is tuned to measure theDGD as illustrated in FIG. 12. FIG. 17 further shows the spectrum of thefilter 1610 where a tuning in the filter 1610 causes the same amount offrequency shift in the transmission of all channels. The polarimeter1620 may be a sequential multi-channel polarimeter having a tunablefilter or a parallel multi-channel polarimeter as shown in FIGS. 14 and15.

In some WDM systems, the channel spacing may be 50 GHz, 100 GHz, or 200GHz. Assuming the finesse of the filter 1610 is 100, the resolutionbandwidth of the filter is 1 GHz and should be sufficient to resolve thespectrum of a 10 Gb/s signal. As described above, the DGD of eachchannel can be calculated based on the measured SOP in each channel asillustrated in FIG. 12.

FIGS. 18A and 18B show two exemplary implementations 1801 and 1802 forproviding independent monitoring of the signal to noise ratio (SNR) andDGD in WDM systems. In both systems, the input light is sequentiallyprocessed by a rotatable quarter-wave plate 1310 and a rotatablehalf-wave plate 1810. The waveplates 1310 and 1810 rotate at differentrotation speeds. Also in both systems, each channel is split into twobeams with orthogonal polarizations to have different power levels. Inthe system 1801, this is achieved by using two different demultiplexers1010 and 1020 with different channel bandwidth. In the system 1802, afilter 940 is inserted in one of the two output beams to produce thedifference. The processing techniques in connection with FIGS. 9 and 10are applicable here.

In the above described examples shown in FIGS. 13, 14, 15, 18A and 18B,the polarization scrambler formed by the rotatable waveplate 1310 andthe rotatable polarizer 1320 may be replaced by a SOP generator and adownstream fixed optical polarizer. The SOP generator may be used tomanipulate the polarization of received light to produce any desired SOPamong a set of predetermined SOPs on the Poincare sphere.

FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, and 19E illustrate examples 1901, 1902, 1903,1904, and 1905 of optical monitoring devices that use a SOP generator1910 and a fixed optical polarizer 1920. The SOP generator 1910 may beconfigured to be adjustable to produce various SOPs. An external controlsignal may be used to control the SOP generator 1910 in producing SOPs.In actual implementation, the control signal includes individual controlsignals for different rotators in the SOP generator 1910.

FIG. 20 shows one example of a SOP generator. In this example, the SOPgenerator includes four controllable polarization rotators 1, 2, 3, and4 that are sequentially placed in the optical path. A quarter waveplateis placed between the rotators 2 and 3 to separate the 4 rotators intotwo pairs: rotators 1 and 2 as one pair and rotators 3 and 4 as anotherpair. In addition, an optional input polarizer may be placed in front ofthe first rotator 1 for aligning the input polarization with respect tothe optical axis (c-axis) of the λ/4 plate. The input polarizer may beoriented in various directions, e.g., aligned with the c-axis, or 45°from the c-axis, or other predetermined angle. Each of the polarizationrotators in FIG. 20 may be individually controlled by a control signalas illustrated. Polarization rotations of the rotators are controlled toproduce the desired SOPs at the output.

Notably, the SOP generator in FIG. 20 is specifically designed togenerate at least 4 and generally more than 4 distinctively differentpolarization states from an input light beam with a linear inputpolarization. This feature of the SOP generator in FIG. 20 issignificant because any state of polarization of light can berepresented by a set of 4 Stockes parameters for polarization.Therefore, when at least 4 measurements can be obtained from an opticalsample, an optical device, or an optical module with at least 4different states of polarization in the probe light, a set of 4 linearequations can be solved to determine the values of the set of 4 Stockesparameters and thus to determine the polarization property of thesample, device or module under test.

In addition, the SOP generator in FIG. 20 may also be used as a SOPanalyzer or polarimemter to determine the SOP of the received light inany SOP by obtaining at least 4 different measurements of the inputlight and solve for the set of 4 Stockes parameters of the SOP of theinput light.

It is well known that the Poincare sphere can be used to represent anyand all states of polarization. Each point on this Poincare sphere has aunique set of coordinates defined by the sphere's three-dimensional axesS₁, S₂ and S₃. A Stokes vector is a 4×1 real matrix of 4 associatedStokes parameters (S₀, S₁, S₂, S₃) that completely describes the SOP ofthe light. As an example, points on the equator of the Poincare sphererepresent linear polarization states, the poles represent right-hand andleft-hand circular polarization, and other points on the Poincare sphererepresent elliptical polarization states.

Mathematically speaking, a minimum of 4 distinctively polarizationmeasurements can be used to completely determine the Stockes parameters.In principle, these 4 distinctively polarization measurements may beobtained in any suitable manner in a particular application. As anexample, the 4 Stockes parameters of a beam with an unknown SOP may bedetermined based upon measured power levels in the followingmeasurements: 1) a polarizer at 0° (e.g., along the horizontaldirection) is inserted in the input light and the optical power afterthe polarizer is measured; 2) Next, the polarizer is rotated by 45° andthe corresponding optical power after the polarizer is measured; 3) thepolarizer is then rotated by 90 degrees (or −45°) and the optical powerafter the polarizer is measured; and 4) finally, a right-hand-circular(RHC) or left-hand-circular (LHC) polarizer is inserted into the inputlight and the optical power after the RHC or LHC polarizer is measured.

The above power measurements can then be used to determine the Stockesparameters of the input SOP as follows: S₀ is the average power of theentire light beam (I); S₁ is the difference in power between thehorizontal (0 degree) and vertical (90 degrees) linear polarizationcomponents of the beam (I₀-I₉₀); S₂ indicates the power differencebetween the +45-degree and −45-degree linear polarizations, (145-I 45);and S₃ is the power difference between the right hand circular (RCP) andleft-hand circular (LCP) polarizations: (I_(RCP)-I_(LCP)). The Stokesvector has a magnitude equal to (S₁ ²+S₂ ²+S₃ ²)^(1/2) and originatesfrom the center of the Poincare sphere. The three Stokes parameters canbe normalized by the relative optical power values (s₁=S₁/S₀, s₂=S₂/S₀,s₃=S₃/S₀).

In one implementation of the SOP generator in FIG. 20, each polarizationrotator may be a magneto-optic (MO) rotator to avoid any mechanicalmoving part in the SOP generator. This use of MO rotators or otherpolarization rotators without moving parts can improve the reliabilityand operating life of the device.

A polarization rotator, such as a MO rotator, suitable for the SOPgenerator in FIG. 20 may be designed to have the following properties:(1) when a positive voltage above the saturation voltage Vsat of the MOrotator is applied to the MO rotator (i.e., V≧+Vsat), the MO rotatorrotates the SOP of light by +22.5°; (2) when a negative voltage abovethe saturation voltage Vsat is applied (i.e., V≦−Vsat), the rotatorrotates the SOP by −22.5°; (3) when rotators 1 and 2 (or 3 and 4) arerotated in the same direction, the net rotation of the pair of rotators1 and 2 or rotators 3 and 4 is 45°; and (4) when rotators 1 and 2 (or 3and 4) are rotated in the opposite directions, the net rotation of thepair is 0°. Alternatively, other types of polarization rotators such asliquid crystal polarization rotators and solid-state birefringentcrystal polarization rotators may also be configured with the aboveoperating states with appropriate control signals.

Accordingly, this particular SOP generator can be used to generate atleast the following 5 distinctly different states of polarization whenthe input SOP is linear and is aligned with the c-axis of the λ/4 plate:

(1) A linear SOP at 0° is generated when rotators 1 and 2 are rotated atopposite directions and rotators 3 and 4 are rotated at oppositedirections;

(2) A linear SOP at +45° is generated when rotators 1 and 2 are rotatedat opposite directions, but rotators 3 and 4 are each rotated by +22.5°;

(3) A linear SOP at −45° is generated when rotators 1 and 2 are rotatedat opposite directions, but rotators 3 and 4 are each rotated by −22.5°;

(4) A right-hand circular (RHC) polarization state is generated whenrotators 1 and 2 are each rotated by +22.5°; and

(5) A left-hand circular (LHC) polarization state is generated whenrotators 1 and 2 are each rotated by −22.5°.

TABLES 1 and 2 are logic tables with SOPs of different settings of therotators 1, 2, 3, and 4 for two configurations of the SOP generator inFIG. 20. The first row in each table shows both the direction androtation in each of the four rotators and the remaining rows show onlythe directions of the rotations by the rotators and the amount ofrotation is fixed at 22.5 degrees. The SOP generator in the 45-degreeconfiguration in TABLE 2 has 6 distinctively different polarizationstates. The SOP in both configurations has degenerate states where twosets of different settings of the rotators generate the same state ofpolarization at the output. For example, the top four different settingsfor the 4 rotators all generate the same 0-degree linear polarization atthe output. TABLE 1 SOPs when Input SOP is aligned with quarter waveplate Rotator 1 Rotator 2 Rotator 3 Rotator 4 SOP +22.5° −22.5° +22.5°−22.5° 0° linear + − − + 0° linear − + + − 0° linear − + − + 0° linear +− + + 45° linear − + + + 45° linear + − − − −45° linear − + − − −45°linear + + + + RHC + + − + RHC + + + − RHC + + − − RHC − − + + LHC − −− + LHC − − + − LHC − − − − LHC

TABLE 2 SOPS when Input SOP is aligned 45° from c-axis of the quarterwave plate Rotator 1 Rotator 2 Rotator 3 Rotator 4 SOP +22.5° −22.5°+22.5° −22.5° RHC + − − + RHC − + + − RHC − + − + RHC + − + + RHC− + + + RHC + − − − RHC − + − − RHC + + + + 90° linear + + − + 45°linear + + + − 45° linear + + − − 0° linear − − + + 0° linear − − − +−45° linear − − + − −45° linear − − − − −90° linear

FIG. 21 shows an example of a packaged SOP generator based on the designin FIG. 20 where the generator is packaged or pigtailed withpolarization-maintaining (PM) or single mode (SM) fibers. Asillustrated, a housing may be used to hold the rotators and thewaveplate along with the optional input polarizer. Two fiber collimatorsmay be used at the input and output ports of the SOP generator and maybe engaged to the input and output PM or SM fibers. The fibers may alsobe single mode PM fibers.

In operating the SOP generator in FIG. 20 or FIG. 21 to generatedifferent output SOPS, the SOP of an input light signal with a linearpolarization is first determined and then the relative orientationbetween the input SOP and the quarter wave plate is set at apredetermined angle, e.g., at the zero degree as in the configuration inTABLE 1 or at 45 degrees as in TABLE 2.

When the SOP generator in FIG. 20 or FIG. 21 is used as an SOP analyzerto measure SOP and DOP of light, an input beam with an unknown SOP issent into the SOP generator from the right port (the rotator 4) in FIG.20 and an optical detector at the left port (rotator 1) to receive thelight transmitting through the SOP generator. FIG. 22 shows oneexemplary setup for using the SOP generator as a SOP analyzer orpolarimeter. An output polarizer with a fixed linear polarization isplaced between the output of the SOP generator and the optical detectorto filter the output light from the SOP generator so the received lightat the optical detector is polarized by the fixed polarizer. The powerof the output from the output polarizer is measured and used todetermine the SOP of the input light.

In this operation, the SOP generator may be used to generate the minimum4 different polarization states for the polarizer to analyze by rotatingthe SOP of the input light. Hence, the 4 rotators in the SOP generatorused for analyzing unknown SOP of the input light in FIG. 22 arecontrolled to rotate the SOP to generate 4 different output states forthe measurement. For the previous example for making 4 differentpolarization measurements by rotating a polarizer and using a RHC or LHCpolarizer in order to determine the 4 Stockes parameters, the SOPgenerator in FIG. 22 may be used to rotate the SOP of the input lightinstead to achieve the 4 equivalent power measurements: 1) the 4rotators are controlled so the input SOP is not changed and is directlysent to the polarizer in front of the optical detector and the opticalpower after the polarizer is measured; 2) the 4 rotators are controlledto rotate the SOP by 45° and the optical power after the polarizer ismeasured again; 3) the 4 rotators are controlled to rotate the input SOPby 90 or −45° and the optical power after the polarizer is measured forthe third time; and 4) the 4 rotators are controlled to convert theinput SOP into RHC (or LHC) and measure the optical power after thepolarizer. The above steps are used here to illustrate the mechanismthat the SOP generator in FIG. 22 is used to convert the input SOP into4 different SOPs in order to get 4 different power measurements. Inactual operation of the SOP generator in FIG. 22, 4 or more differentsettings for generating different output SOPs can be used to obtaindifferent measurements. For example, if the direction of the polarizerin front of the optical detector in FIG. 22 is aligned with the opticaxis of the λ/4 plate in the SOP generator, the 4 rotators may be set to4 different combinations in TABLE 1 that produce different output SOPsin TABLE 1 to obtain the 4 measurements. When the direction of thepolarizer in front of the optical detector in FIG. 22 is aligned at 45degrees with respect to the optic axis of the λ/4 plate in the SOPgenerator, the 4 rotators may be set to 4 different combinations inTABLE 2 that produce different output SOPs in TABLE 2 to obtain the 4measurements.

FIG. 23 further shows a polarimeter based on the design in FIG. 22 wherethe polarizer in front of the optical detector is aligned to be parallelto the slow axis of the λ/4 plate. Assume the 4 polarization rotators 1,2, 3, and 4 operate with polarization rotation angles of α, β, γ, and δ,respectively, and there is no optical loss in the transmission throughthe polarimeter, the Mueller matrix of the polarimeter can be expressedby the following 4×4 matrix M(T): ${{M(T)} = \begin{pmatrix}1 & {\quad{\cos\quad 2\left( {\alpha + \beta} \right)\cos\quad 2\left( {\gamma + \delta} \right)}} & {\sin\quad 2\left( {\alpha + \beta} \right)\cos\quad 2\left( {\gamma + \delta} \right)} & {\sin\quad 2\left( {\gamma + \delta} \right)} \\1 & {\cos\quad 2\left( {\alpha + \beta} \right)\cos\quad 2\left( {\gamma + \delta} \right)} & {\sin\quad 2\left( {\alpha + \beta} \right)\cos\quad 2\left( {\gamma + \delta} \right)} & {\sin\quad 2\left( {\gamma + \delta} \right)} \\0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 0 & 0\end{pmatrix}},$When the Stokes vector S=(S₀, S₁, S₂, S₃) represents the inputpolarization state, then the output optical power (S₀′) isS ₀=½[S ₀+cos 2(α+β)cos 2(γ+δ)S ₁+sin 2(α+β)cos 2(γ+δ)S ₂+sin 2(γ+δ)S₃].

In the expression for the output optical power of the polarimeter, the 4different rotation angles for the rotators appear in pairs where therotation angles for the rotators 1 and 2 on one side of the λ/4 plateappear as a sum of (α+β) and the rotation angles for the for therotators 3 and 5 on the other side of the λ/4 plate appear as a sum of(α+δ). Hence, two double stage rotation angles θ and φ can be defined torepresent the two sums, respectively:σ=α+β, andφ=γ+δ.In the exemplary design shown in FIGS. 20-22, the rotators, such asmagnetooptic crystals, are assumed to have the following binarysteady-state valuesα=β=γ=δ±22.5°.Under this condition, the possible combinations for the double stagerotation angles become $\begin{pmatrix}\theta \\\varphi\end{pmatrix} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{45{^\circ}} \\{0{^\circ}} \\{{- 45}{{^\circ}.}}\end{matrix} \right.$Therefore, the optical output S₀′, the double stage rotation angles θand φ, and the binary values for the rotation angles of the 4 rotatorscan be used to show that there are total 5 different output power valuesfor all possible combinations of θ and φ. Any 4 of such combinationsyield enough information for the calculation of the input SOP.

More specifically, the optical output S₀′ can be expressed as a functionof the angles of θ and φ:S ₀′(θ,φ)=½[S ₀ +S ₁ cos 2θ cos 2φ+S ₂ sin 2θ cos 2φ+S ₃ sin 2φ],Accordingly, the following output states for the output S₀′ can beobtained by controlling the rotators:S ₀′(0°,0°)=½(S ₀ +S ₁),S ₀′(±45°,0°)=½(S ₀ ±S ₂), and,S ₀′(θ,±45°)=½(S ₀ ±S ₃)Therefore, the Stockes parameters for the unknown SOP of the input lightto the polarimeter can be determined as follows:S ₀ =S ₀′(θ,45°)+S ₀′(θ,−45°)=S ₀′(45°,0°)+S ₀′(−45°,0°)S ₁=2S ₀ ′−S ₀′(45°,0°)−S ₀′(−45°,0°)S ₂ =S ₀′(45°,0°)−S ₀′(−45°,0°)S ₃ =S ₀′(θ,45°)−S ₀′(θ,−45°)

In an actual implementation of the polarimeter, a control and processingunit may be used to generate control signals 1, 2, 3, and 4 to controlthe rotators 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, and to process the detectoroutputs from the optical detector that correspond to differentcombinations of rotator settings for the rotators. A microprocessor orcomputer may be included in the control and processing unit andprogrammed to perform certain control and data processing operations.The Muller matrix equation is then solved based on the detector outputsto determine the SOP of the receive light. The DOP of the input lightcan then be determined from the SOP. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) ofthe input signal can also be determined based on the relation ofSNR=(DOP)/(1-DOP).

FIG. 24 shows an exemplary fiber implementation of the polarimeter inFIG. 23 where an input fiber is used to deliver the input light and anoutput fiber is used to receive the output light. Fiber opticalcollimators C1 and C2 are respectively coupled to the input to thepolarimeter and the output, respectively.

In the above SOP generators and SOP-based polarimeters, 4 polarizationrotators are used to form two pairs of rotators. To further increase thenumber of different SOPs of such SOP generators and polarimeters,additional pairs of rotators may be added. The quarter wave plate (QWP)may be placed between any two pairs of rotators.

FIG. 25 shows one example of a polarimeter with a total of 6polarization rotators R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 to form three pairs ofrotators (R1, R2), (R3, R4), and (R5, R6). The quarter wave plate isshown to be between the pairs (R3, R4) and (R5, R6). Alternatively, thequarter wave plate may be placed between the pairs (R1, R2) and (R3,R4). Again, assuming each rotator is configured to operate at two binarypolarization rotation angles of ±22.5°, the SOP generator with the threepairs of rotators in this polarimeter can produce 6 distinctly differentSOPs when the input is a linear polarization.

TABLE 3 is a logic table for the output SOPs of the SOP generator withthe three pairs of rotators in the polarimeter in FIG. 25 when the inputlight has a linear polarization that is aligned with the slow axis ofthe quarter wave plate. The 6 distinctly different SOPs are 4 differentlinear polarization states at 0, +45, −45, and +/−90 degrees, and 2circularly polarized states in RHC and LHC. TABLE 3 Logic table for6-state polarization generator (0, +45, −45, +/−90, RHC, and LHC)Rotator Rotator Rotator Rotator Rotator Rotator Output 1 2 3 4 5 6 SOP+22.5 −22.5 +22.5 −22.5 +22.5 −22.5 0 + − + + − − 0 + − + − − + 0 + − −− + + 0 + − − + − + 0 + − − + + − 0 + − + + + − 45 + − + + − + 45 + − +− + + 45 + − − + + + 45 + − − − + − −45 + − − − − + −45 + − − + − −−45 + − + − − − −45 + − + + + + 90 + − − − − − −90 − + + − + − 0 − + + +− − 0 − + + − − + 0 − + − − + + 0 − + − + − + 0 − + − + + − 0 − + + + +− 45 − + + + − + 45 − + + − + + 45 − + − + + + 45 − + − − + − −45 − + −− − + −45 − + − + − − −45 − + + − − − −45 − + + + + + 90 − + − − − −−90 + + + − + − RHC + + + + − − RHC + + + − − + RHC + + − − + + RHC + +− + − + RHC + + − + + − RHC + + + + + − RHC + + + + − + RHC + + + − + +RHC + + − + + + RHC + + − − + − RHC + + − − − + RHC + + − + − −RHC + + + − − − RHC + + + + + + RHC + + − − − − RHC − − + − + − LHC −− + + − − LHC − − + − − + LHC − − − − + + LHC − − − + − + LHC − − − + +− LHC − − + + + − LHC − − + + − + LHC − − + − + + LHC − − − + + + LHC −− − − + − LHC − − − − − + LHC − − − + − − LHC − − + − − − LHC −− + + + + LHC − − − − − − LHC

Like the SOP generator with 4 rotators, the SOP generator in thepolarimeter in FIG. 25 has degenerate SOPs that are produced bydifferent combinations of rotator settings. The rotator settings and thecorresponding SOPs may be organized under the 6 different SOPs withrespect to different combined rotations of the rotator pairs. Becausethe rotator pairs (R1, R2) and (R3, R4) are on the same side of thequarter wave plate, the net rotation for the first four rotators R1, R2,R3, and R4 is used as an independent control parameter while the netrotation by the pair (R5 and R6) on the other side of the quarter waveplate is used as another independent control parameter. The combinationsof these two net rotation parameters for the 6 distinctly different SOPsare listed in TABLE 4. TABLE 4 Six Different SOPs of SOP Generator inFIG. 25 Combined Combined rotation angle rotation angle Orientation ofR5 and R6 of R1˜R4 Output SOP definition 0°  0° Linear along X X axis isalong 0° 45° Linear along 45° polarizer P, Y 0° −45°  Linear along −45°vertical to P, Z 0° 90° Linear along Y point from C2 to C1 45° Arbitrary LCP −45°  Arbitrary RCP

Similarly, the SOP generator with 4 rotators in the polarimeter in FIG.24 can be controlled by controlling the net rotations by the two pairs(R1, R2) and (R3, R4) in the listed 5 different combinations to producethe 5 SOPs. TABLE 5 Five Different SOPs of SOP Generator in FIG. 24Combined Combined rotation angle rotation angle Orientation of R3 and R4of R1 and R2 Output SOP definition 0°  0° Linear along X X axis is along0° 45° Linear along 45° polarizer P, Y 0° −45°  Linear along −45°vertical to P, Z 45°  Arbitrary LCP point from C2 to C1 −45°  ArbitraryRCP

FIG. 26 show another 6-rotator SOP generator where the quarter waveplate is placed between the first two pairs (R1, R2) and (R3, R4). FIG.27 shows an example where 8 polarization rotators are used to form a SOPgenerator.

In the above examples, the position of the quarter-wave plate is shownto be between different pairs of rotators, e.g., between the third andfourth rotators. This position makes the analysis of the operation ofthe system intuitive. The quarter-wave plate, however, may be placed inany position in the train of 4 or more rotators, e.g., before the firstrotator, after the last rotator, or any position in between. Inaddition, the number of rotators may be 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and so on.Furthermore, the above binary rotation angles for each rotator may beset to values other than 22.5 degrees. For example, in order to increasethe number of states, smaller angles may be used such as +/−11.125degrees and other desired values.

The above exemplary 4-, 6-, and 8-rotator SOP generators are used togenerate at least four distinctive SOPs for solving the Muller matrixequation for either determining the SOP of input light or measuring thepolarization property of an optical device or module or an opticalbirefringent material. The 4-rotator SOP generator is in principlesufficient with its 4 different SOPs. However, more than 4 rotators maybe used to generate additional distinctive SOPs to facilitate themeasurements when there are additional uncertainties caused by non-idealsettings of various optical elements. For example, the linear polarizerused in the measurement may not be perfectly aligned with the slow orfast axis of the quarter wave plate but has an angular offset relativeto the axis of the quarter wave plate. As another example, the rotatorsmay have angular offsets from the desired angles.

The SOP generators with 4 or more rotators are designed in part toproduce different SOPs that are distributed over the Poincare sphere toprovide as much coverage of the entire sphere as possible for accuratemeasurements. Different SOPs are uniformly distributed over thePoinscare sphere in some implementations. The 4-rotator SOP generatorprovides 3 three SOPs on the equator of the Poincare sphere and 2 SOPsfor the two poles where the 6-rotator SOP generator provides anadditional SOP on the equator of the sphere. When more than 4 differentSOPs are available, measurements may be performed for differentcombinations of 4 SOPs and the results from different combinations maybe averaged to obtain the final result.

The fiber implementations of the 4-rotator design in FIGS. 24 and6-rotator design in FIG. 25 were tested. The input optical beam can becoupled to either of the C1 and C2 ports. However, each device performsdifferent functionalities when input light beam is coupled to the devicefrom different ports. When the input optical beam is coupled to the C1port, the polarizer before C2 port allows only the polarization stateprojected to its passing axis to be transmitted to C2 port. Therefore,the output optical power at the C2 port at different rotation angles isa function of the input polarization state. This feature can be used toconstruct a polarization analyzer or polarimeter for measuring the SOPof the input light. On the other hand, when the input beam is coupled tothe C2 port and aligned to the transmission axis of the polarizer, theoutput optical beam at the C1 port maintains a constant output power(depending on the device PDL) but the SOP is now a function of therotation angle of the MO rotators. Due to the binary (saturation) natureof each MO rotator, the number of discrete SOPs can be generateddepending on the number of rotators and the rotation angle of eachrotator. In the test devices, the rotators are substantially identicalwith one another and are all set at ±22.5 degrees when magnetic fieldalong ±z axis is applied. The polarizer at C2 port can also be alignedto other angles that will generate a different set of SOP. TABLES 4 and5 above show the output SOPs at the port C1 when the port C2 is used asthe input port. When light enters the port C2 in each device in FIGS. 24and 25 and propagates through a section of the single mode fiber afterthe port C1, the output SOP is transformed to SOPs that are differentfrom the SOPs listed in TABLE 4 and TABLE 5 due to the birefringence ofthe SM fiber. However, the relative angle between different SOPs, thatis, the angle between any two distinctive SOPs on the Poincare sphere,will remain the same.

FIG. 28 shows a testing setup for testing the 4-rotator and 6-rotatordevices which are presented by a box labeled as “PSG-4S/6S.” Thepolarization controllers #1 and #2 are placed at the two sides of thedevice under test. A laser source, e.g., a tunable laser (Agilent 81680TSL), may be used to generate the input light and the first polarizationcontroller #1 is used to control the polarization of the beam whenentering the device under test. The first polarization controller #1 isused to maximize the output optical power that occurs when the inputpolarization state is aligned to the internal polarizer. The secondpolarization controller #2 is optional and may be used to move SOP onthe Poincare sphere for easy display. A polarization analyzer, such asthe Agilent 8509C lightwave polarization analyzer, is used to analyzethe SOP of the light transmitted through the device under test. A 9-VoltDC power supply can be used to supply power to the MO rotators in thedevice under test. The control unit for the device under test mayinclude a driver board designed for the MO rotator driving control. Apersonal computer (PC) may be used as the control and processing unitfor the device under test. The 6-rotator device was assembled in anoptical head package and mounted on the driver board for this test. Thetest procedures for 4-rotator and 6-rotator devices are slightlydifferent because the test procedures for the 4-rotator device depend onhow the optical head is connected to the driver board.

The 6-rotator device was tested as follows. Prior to the test, thetunable laser source (TLS) was turned on and warmed up (e.g., for 2hours). Before connecting any cables, the DC power supply is set at 9Vand the power supply was turned off. Next, the power cable was connectedand wires corresponding to bit 1 through bit 6 for the 6 rotators wereconnected to a digital I/O card output block. The 6-bit TTL controlsignals may also be obtained from other means. After the 6-rotatordevice was connected, the 9V DC power supply was turned on. The defaultsetting was that all LED indicators were on. For best SOP repeatability,it is recommended that 6-rotator device under test can be warmed up for20 minutes.

A total 6 distinctive SOP states can be generated by a 6-bit digitalhighs and lows, as shown in the logic table below. The logic high andlow of each bit can be directly verified by inspecting the correspondingLED indicator on the module board. A LED “on” represents “1” for thelogic table; LED “off” represents “0” for the logic table. Logic TableSOP (000101) State 1 (001101) State 2 (011101) State 3 (011100) State 4(111101) State 5 (111011) State 6In the above logic table, the bit order is bit 1 to bit 6 from far leftto far right. When this logic table is used, states [1, 3], [2, 5] and[4, 6] form orthogonal state pairs. The logic table presented here isnot unique for controlling the 6-rotator device under test and is one ofmany combinations that can generate 6 distinctive states. There are 64combinations for 6-bit binary TTL code but only 6 distinctivepolarization states. Therefore, some output SOPs are degenerate ornearly degenerate among 64 combinations. A different logic table can beobtained by monitoring output polarization states with a polarizationanalyzer.

Next, the control program and test TTL signals were launched accordingto the logic table. Check whether the 6 green LEDs located on the PSG-6Sboard are blinking when inputting TTL control signals to the module. Theblinking LED indicates that logic highs (LED on) and lows (LED off) aresuccessfully sent to the module from the controller. Otherwise check theconnection to make sure that the computer and the module are correctlyconnected. The optical signal from the laser source is directed into thedevice from the proper input to the proper output because this device isunidirectional as a polarization state generator. The SOP values arethen controlled according to the above logic table to measure theoptical insertion loss, switching state dependent loss, and switchingtransient loss.

The insertion loss without any connector was measured during devicefabrication. A polarization controller was used to align the outputpolarization state along the transmission axis of the polarizer P. Themeasured values for the insertion loss of the 4-rotator and 6-rotatordevices tested at the light wavelength of 1550 nm are 0.83 dB incomparison to a theoretical value of 0.65 dB and 0.90 dB in comparisonto a theoretical value of 0.75 dB, respectively.

The SOP dependent loss was measured by recording the optical power atdifferent output SOP. Before the measurement, the switch time for eachrotator was set at 1 second so that the a stable power reading can beobtained. The difference between the maximum and the minimum readingswas used as the SOP dependent insertion loss and was 0.06 dB and 0.08 dBat the light wavelength of 1550 nm for the 4-rotator and 6-rotatordevices under test, respectively.

In both the 4-rotator and 6-rotator devices under test, when reversingthe magnetic field applied on a MO crystal in a rotator during theaction of switching, there was a brief insertion loss increase when themagnet field passes the zero field point. This loss increase is oftendescribed as switching transient loss (or simply transient loss) and canbe measured with a fast photodetector and an oscilloscope. The transientloss can be expressed as${IL}_{tr} = {{- 10} \cdot {\log\left( {1 - \frac{\Delta\quad V_{s}}{V_{DC}}} \right)}}$where ΔV_(s) is the magnitude of the voltage dip during the switching,V_(DC) is the DC voltage output level without switching.

FIG. 29 shows the measured transient loss in one MO rotator in the charton the left and the DC voltage corresponding to the total optical signallevel without switching in the chart on the right. Based on the measuredsingle stage switching ΔVs (the peak-to-peak value of the Channel 1 inthe chart on the left) and VDC (Cursor Delta in the chart on the right),the calculated transient loss is 0.37 dB for each stage. In a typicalarbitrary 2-state switching, up to 5 stages can be switched, asevidenced by the switching from 000101 to 111011 in the above logictable.

The SOP switching times for the tested 4-rotator and 6-rotator deviceswere measured with a TEK210 digital oscilloscope. The switching time ineach tested device included two main contributions: a switch delay ofabout 100 μs and a rise time of about 50 μs.

A SOP generator may be designed to generate distinctive polarizationstates uniformly distributed on the Poincare sphere and separated by 90degrees for the angles between any two distinctive SOPs. Suchpolarization states allow for measurements with high accuracy. In actualdevices, the SOP accuracy may be limited by a number of devicelimitations, e.g., the switching angle of the MO crystals. The MOcrystal rotation angle is a function of the crystal thickness, theoptical wavelength of light, the environment temperature, and thecrystal orientation. When crystal thickness and orientation are wellcontrolled and uniform (such as from the same fabrication lot), theabsolute SOP accuracy depends mainly on the optical wavelength andenvironment temperature.

FIG. 30 shows the measured wavelength dependence of the rotation angleon the Poincare sphere for the tested 6-rotator device. The actualphysical rotation angle may be one half of those measured on thePoincare sphere. Therefore, the actual slope of the MO crystalwavelength dependence is −0.0668 deg./nm, within 2% of the manufacturersupplied data (−0.068 deg./nm).

Another performance parameter for the SOP generators is therepeatability of the generated SOPs. The SOP generation repeatabilityfor the tested 6-rotator device was measured by switching the devicebetween two arbitrary SOPs repetitively. A typical switching tracebetween two SOPs for 100 times is shown in FIG. 31. The spotsrepresenting starting and ending states remain as two very clearlydefined dots which indicate good SOP repeatability of the tested device.FIG. 31 also shows that the switching from SA to SB and from SB to SA donot follow the same trace and have two different traces that areinterwoven together.

Referring back to TABLE 5, an ideal 4-rotator device can generate 5distinctive polarization states. In our test on the SOP coverage, all 64binary states that were available from the driver card were used todrive both the rotators in both 4-rotator and 6-rotator devices. FIGS.32A and 32B show snap shots of the Poincare sphere for the SOPs in the4-rotator and 6-rotator devices, respectively. In FIG. 32A, the 5distinctive polarization states from a tested 4-rotator device aremarked on the sphere. It is noticeable that near SOPs A and C, there area few other states that are close to A and C. There is no clearexplanation why these states do not overlap at the points A and C. FIG.32B shows the 6 distinctive SOPs as states A-F on the Poincare spherefrom a tested 6-rotator device. The states B, C, and F have smallspreading, while the states A, D, and E have a few nearly degeneratedstates depending on the initial and final switching states. ComparingFIGS. 32A and 32B, it is obvious that the 4-rotator device provides onlypartial coverage on the Poincare sphere (i.e., one half of the sphere),while the 6-rotator device provides a symmetrical coverage on the entirePoincare sphere and thus more accurate measurements.

The above multi-rotator SOP generators may be used for both generatingdistinctive SOPs and analyzing SOP of input light. In certainapplications, the polarization properties of optical elements, devices,modules and birefringent materials may be measured in an optical systemwhere a multi-rotator SOP generator (i.e., a polarization stategenerator or PSG) is used to generate probe light with distinctive SOPsto illuminate the device or sample under test and a SOP analyzer orpolarimeter (i.e., a polarization state analyzer or PSA) using anothermulti-rotator SOP generator to measure the output light from the deviceor sample under test. Since the input SOP and the output SOP are knownin this system, the polarization parameters for the device or sampleunder test can be obtained by solving the Muller matrix equation. Inthis system, and polarization state analyzer (PSA) can be used toanalyze the birefringence properties of a sample. The PSG and PSA can beconstructed with 4 or more pieces of Faraday rotators with +/−22.5degree rotation angles. Other polarization-rotating mechanism may alsobe used. As an example, the rotators can also be constructed with liquidcrystal cells. Basically, PSG can generate 4 distinctive states ofpolarization over the Poincare Sphere. As described above, PSA is simplya PSG which is optically reversed with the polarizer at the output endand a photodetector for receiving the light. In this design, the PSA canalso generate four distinctive SOPs over the Poincare Sphere of a lightbeam, whose power is analyzed by a polarizer. Four power readingscorresponding to the four SOPs can be used to uniquely determine the SOPof the incoming beam.

FIG. 33 illustrates one example of such a system for measuring a sampleor an optical device. A holder is provided to hold the sample or deviceunder test. A PSG is placed in the input optical path to control theinput SOPs and an PSA is placed in the output optical path to analyzethe SOP of the transmitted light. In the PSG, a linear inputpolarization can be used to control the input polarization.

Notably, when the PSG and PSA are based on the same multi-rotatordesign, the PSA is essentially the mirror image of the PSG. Therefore, amirror or reflector may be used at the sample or device under test todirect the light that transmits through the sample back to the sampleand the PSG in the reversed direction for the SOP detection withoutneeding a separate PSA. Such a SOP system may be viewed as a “folded”system by folding the system in FIG. 33.

Such a folded system has a number of advantages. For example, only onePSA device, such as the 4-rotator or 6-rotator PSG, is used in thefolded system and thus the system is simplified and the cost is reduced.As another example, the relative SOP errors can be significantly reducedor eliminated in a folded system in comparison with the unfolded systemin FIG. 33 because both the generator and the analyzer experience theexactly the same imperfections or offsets. Also, the folded system haseasier sample placement than the unfolded system in FIG. 33, especiallyfor mounting samples on a x-y translation stage. Furthermore, the probelight travels through the sample twice in the folded system andeffectuates a two-fold increase in the sample interaction thickness toimprove the measurement and the signal to noise ratio. The folded systemalso has a compact design than the unfolded system in FIG. 33 and may besuitable for various portable applications.

FIGS. 34A, 34B, 35, and 36 show examples of folded systems. In eachexample, a polarization beam splitter (PBS) is used as the inputpolarizer along one direction for the SOP generation and the outputpolarizer along an orthogonal direction for the SOP analyzing operation.In FIG. 34A, a collimating lens is used to direct the input light intothe device via the PBS and the photodetector is positioned to directlyreceive the reflected light from the device via the PBS. In FIG. 34B, asecond collimating lens is placed between the PBS and the photodetectorto collimate the reflected light. In FIGS. 35 and 36, the sample undertest is a coil of fiber and a third collimating lens is placed betweenthe polarization rotators and the fiber coil for collimating both thelight going into the coil and the reflected light from the coil.

The sample or the device under test may be measured at a single opticalwavelength or at multiple optical wavelengths as illustrated in FIG. 35.A broadband light source is used in FIG. 35 to produce input light atdifferent wavelengths. Alternatively, different single-wavelength lightsources may be used to produce light at different wavelengths and thebeams at different wavelengths are combined and sent into the system. Indetection, the output light may be spectrally separated by opticalfiltering, e.g., using a wavelength demultiplexer or a spectrumanalyzer. Output beams at different wavelengths are then received anddetected by different optical detectors. Therefore, the polarizationproperties of the sample or device under test at different wavelengthscan be simultaneously measured.

The above and other folded systems described here may be used forvarious applications, including compact birefringence analyzers,portable sugar content analyzers for fruit, sugar cane, and kidneydiseases (sugar is optically active and rotate SOP and the amount of SOProtation relates to sugar content), and optical window birefringenceanalysis.

FIGS. 37A and 37B show two examples of multi-wavelength polarizationanalyzers with 4 or more polarization rotators. Such systems may be usedin WDM applications for simultaneous multichannel measurements.

FIG. 37A shows a use of an optical diffraction grating and a lens toseparate light at different wavelengths. The light passing through thepolarizer is separated in wavelength by the diffraction grating and thenis focused by a lens to different locations on a photodetector array.Analyzing the optical power in different channels can obtain the SOP,DOP, PMD information of each channel. In FIG. 37B, the incoming lightcontaining all different channels are separated by a WDM or dense WDMchannel demultiplexer after passing through the polarizer. The opticalpower levels in each channel for different SOP states are then monitoredand used to obtain complete information of SOP, DOP, and PMD of eachchannel.

To improve the spectrum resolution, a tunable Fabry-Perot filter may beused to filter the output of the output polarizer before the light isspectrally separated by the grating and the lens or the demultiplexer.The free spectrum range of the tunable filter may be the same as that ofthe channel spacing of the multiwavelength channels in the WDM or DWDMsignals. For example, for a DWDM system of 100 GHz spacing, the freespectrum range (FSR) of the filter is also chosen to be 100 GHz. Theresolution increases with the finesse (F) of the filter. For example, afinesse of 100 in a Fabry-Perot filter corresponds to a spectrumresolution is 1 GHz. For a finesse of 1000, the spectrum resolution is0.1 GHz. For a 10 Gb/s signal, the bandwidth is about 10 GHz. Scanningthe F-P filter across the signal spectrum and measuring the SOP of eachfrequency components yield the value of fiber's differential group delay(DGD) and the direction of fiber's principle state of polarization(PSP). FIG. 38 illustrates the operations of such a multichannelanalyzer.

In the absence of depolarization, the optical signal to noise ratio(OSNR) directly relates to DOP of each channel: OSNR=DOP/(1-DOP).Therefore, the device can be used as a performance monitor for thespectrum, OSNR, SOP, DOP, and PSP of each channel. Because of theextremely high spectral resolution, the OSNR can also be directlymeasured by scanning the F-P filter across the channel. The minimumdetected power in each scan corresponds to the noise power p_(n)(ν) ineach channel. The signal power p_(s)(ν) at each frequency ν is themeasured power p(ν) minus the noise power p_(n) (ν):p_(s)(v) = p(v) − p_(n)(v)${OSNR} = \frac{{\int_{- \Delta}^{\Delta}{p(v)}} - {p_{n}(v)}}{\int_{- \Delta}^{\Delta}{p_{n}(v)}}$

In the absence of depolarization, the OSNR results from the DOPmeasurement and from the spectrum scan measurement should be identical.Therefore, a calibration factor between the two measurement can beobtained by using a short fiber with negligible DGD.

In the presence of PMD (depolarization), the DOP can be expressed as:${DOP} = {\frac{P_{pol}}{P_{pol} - P_{nonpol}} = \frac{\left( {1 - \delta} \right)P_{s}}{P_{s} + P_{n}}}$where Ps and Pn are the signal and noise powers of a given bandwidth and6 is the depolarization factor which is 0 if the signal has nodepolarization and is 1 if the signal is totally depolarized. The OSNRis related to DOP by:${SNR} = {{P_{s}/P_{n}} = \frac{DOP}{1 - \delta - {DOP}}}$Therefore, with both the independent DOP and OSNR measurements, thedepolarization factor can be calculated:δ=1−DOP−DOP/SNR

The SOP generator described here can be used to replace the rotatingquarter wave and polarizer assembly shown in FIGS. 13, 14, and 15 onmultichannel polarimeter/polarization analyzers. Other applications ofsuch SOP generator may also be possible.

The above examples of the PSG-based devices use four or morepolarization rotators in combination with a quarter wave plate. Thequarter wave plate, however, may be eliminated in some implementations.In other implementations, the quarter wave plate may be replaced by awave plate with a relative phase delay between the two principalpolarization different from the quarter wave delay. Just like thequarter wave plate, the substituting non-quarter wave plate may beplaced in any position with respect to the polarization rotators.

Another implementation of the PSG-based devices uses only twopolarization rotators to generate at least three polarization states,such as three linear polarizations at three different directions (e.g.,at relative angles of 0°, +45°, and −45°). Therefore, two or morepolarization rotators can be cascaded to generate desired SOPs based onthe techniques described in this application. In one implementation, twopolarization rotators are positioned to form an optical path, and eachpolarization rotator is adjustable to change a rotation of polarizationof light transmitting therethrough along the optical path. Each rotatoris responsive to a first control signal to rotate the polarization by+22.5°, and responsive to a second control signal to rotate thepolarization by −22.5°. A control unit is provided to produce the firstand the second controls signals and to control the two polarizationrotators to produce three different polarizations of an input beamdirected into the two polarization rotators along the optical path. Anoptical polarization device may be placed in the optical path upstreamfrom the two optical polarization rotators to control a polarization ofthe input beam that is directed to the two optical polarizationrotators. This optical polarization may be an optical polarizer.

Combinations of two or more adjustable optical polarization rotatorsdescribed in this application may also be used to produce threedifferent polarization states to measure an optical sample's PMD and PDLusing the Jones matrix. As an example, a measurement device based onthis approach can include, sequentially along the optical path, apolarization state generator (PSG) that can produce three differentpolarization states), a sample holder that holds an optical device ormaterial under test, a polarization analyzer, and an optical detector.The PSG can use the two or more MO rotators described in thisapplication and a control unit is provided to control the MO rotators.This device can be used for PMD and PDL measurements. A processor, suchas a computer, can be programmed to process the three detector outputscorresponding to the three different optical polarizations generated bythe PSG based on the Jones Matrix formulation and to produce the PMD andPDL measurements. Alternatively, the PSG can be a 4-state PSG thatgenerates four different polarization states and the processor can beprogrammed to process the corresponding four detector outputs based onMuller Matrix formulation for the four different polarization states.

Referring to FIGS. 37A, 37B and 38, the combination of four or moreadjustable polarization rotators can be used to generate at least fourdifferent polarization states and thus can be used for processing basedon Muller Matrix formulation. Alternatively, a combination of twoadjustable polarization rotators can be used to generate three differentpolarization states for processing under the Jones Matrix formulation.The tunable Fabry-Perot filter in FIGS. 37A and 37B is shown to bedownstream from the combination of polarization rotators and,alternatively, can be placed upstream to the combination of polarizationrotators. Such 3-state or 4-state implementations can be used to monitorPMD of each WDM channel.

The above examples for devices that measure WDM signals are based onparallel processing where different WDM channels are separated intoparallel signals and are detected and processed. Alternatively,measurement devices for WDM signals can be configured to sequentiallyprocess one WDM channel at a time.

FIG. 39 shows an example of a multi-channel WDM analyzer device based onsequential filtering and processing. This device includes an input portto receive a WDM signal with WDM channels, a SOP generator based ondesigns described in this application, polarizer, a tunable opticalfilter, and a photodetector to measure SNR, DOP and PMD of multiplechannels sequentially. The filter transmits one WDM channel at a timeand is tuned to different WDM channels sequentially in time to directdifferent channels to the detector, one at a time. The filter can alsobe placed at other locations before the detector, e.g., a locationupstream to the SOP generator. The processing can be based on the3-state Jones matrix formulation or the 4-state Muller matrixformulation. The SOP generator can be configured to generate at least 3,4, 6, 8 or more states of polarizations depending on the needs of theprocessing.

While this specification contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of an invention or of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particularembodiments of the invention. Certain features that are described inthis specification in the context of separate embodiments can also beimplemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures that are described in the context of a single embodiment canalso be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in anysuitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be describedabove as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed assuch, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some casesbe excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may bedirected to a subcombination or a variation of a subcombination.

Only a few examples and implementations are described. However, otherimplementations, variations, modifications, and enhancements arepossible.

1. An optical device, comprising: two polarization rotators positionedto form an optical path, each polarization rotator being adjustable tochange a rotation of polarization of light transmitting therethroughalong the optical path, wherein each rotator is responsive to a firstcontrol signal to rotate the polarization by +22.5°, and responsive to asecond control signal to rotate the polarization by −22.5°; and acontrol unit that produces the first and the second controls signals andoperates to control the two polarization rotators to produce threedifferent polarizations of an input beam directed into the twopolarization rotators along the optical path.
 2. The device as in claim1, comprising: an optical polarization device placed in the optical pathupstream from the two optical polarization rotators to control apolarization of the input beam directed to the two optical polarizationrotators.
 3. The device as in claim 2, wherein the optical polarizationdevice is an optical polarizer.
 4. The device as in claim 1, whereineach polarization rotator is a magneto-optic (MO) rotator.
 5. An opticaldevice, comprising: an optical input to receive an opticalwavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) signal having WDM channels, astate-of-polarization generator comprising at least two polarizationrotators, each polarization rotator being adjustable to change arotation of polarization of light transmitting therethrough along theoptical path, wherein each rotator is responsive to a first controlsignal to rotate the polarization by +22.5°, and responsive to a secondcontrol signal to rotate the polarization by −22.5°; a polarizer placedto receive output light from the state-of-polarization generator; anoptical detector to detect light that transmits through the opticalpolarizer; a tunable optical filter that transmits one WDM channel whilerejects other WDM channels and is tunable to transmit different WDMchannels, the tunable optical filter located upstream to the opticaldetector; and a control and processing unit that produces the first andthe second controls signals and operates to control the at least twopolarization rotators to produce at least three different polarizations,the control and processing unit operable to tune the tunable opticalfilter to sequentially transmit the WDM channels to the opticaldetector, one at a time, and the control and processing unit operable toprocess detector outputs corresponding to different polarizations tomeasure a polarization property of each WDM channel.
 6. The device as inclaim 5, wherein each polarization rotator is a magneto-optic (MO)rotator.